JEDDAH — Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has called on Iran to cooperate with the countries of the region and not intervene in the affairs of regional countries. The Jeddah Security and Development Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia kicked off on Saturday with the participation of six GCC countries plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq – also known as GCC+3. During his opening remarks, Crown Prince said that unified efforts were required to support the global economy and that unrealistic policies regarding energy sources would only lead to inflation. Crown Prince conveyed King Salman's greetings and wishes for the success of the summit which he said is being held during a time the world is facing great challenges. He stressed the need to continue pumping investment into the fossil energy and clean energy technologies over the coming couple of decades to meet the world demand, allay the concerns of investors regarding the new policies, and guard against any interruptions in energy supplies which could hamper economic growth. "The Kingdom has plans to increase its oil production capacity to 13 million bpd and after that it will not have the ability to increase production further," he said. Saudi minister of energy has announced last May that the Kingdom expects to ramp up its daily oil production capacity by more than one million barrels to exceed 13 million barrels by 2027. Crown Prince Mohammad expressed hope that the current summit would lay the groundwork for a new era of enhanced joint action and strategic partnership. "Profound cooperation between our countries and the United States will serve the common interests, and enhance security and development in this vital region and the entire world," he stressed. "The environmental challenges facing the world, notably the climate change, require strengthened resolve by the international community to keep the temperature of Earth within the limits specified by the Paris Agreement. "These challenges need to be addressed through a practical and responsible approach with a view to ensuring sustainable development based on a balanced and sustainable use of energy resources and taking stock of the priorities and conditions of each state," Crown Prince Mohammad stressed. "To adopt unpractical policies for reducing harmful emissions, including the execution of main energy resources without giving due consideration to the socioeconomic effects of such policies, could lead to unprecedented inflation rates in the coming years, send the energy prices and unemployment rates to new highs, and exacerbate the social, economic and security problems such as famine, crime, extremism and terrorism," he warned. The world economic growth is closely related to making use of the available energy resources, including the hydrocarbons, provided setting controls their emissions through clean energy technologies to reach the target of carbon-neutrality or net-zero by the year 2050, he noted. In its economic development plan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia follows a balanced approach to keeping the energy supplies and realizing the carbon neutrality target based on carbon recycling economy. This plan aims to ensure economic diversification without affecting the economic growth or the supply chains. It also aims to address the carbon emissions through Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative in collaboration with regional and international actors, Crown Prince Mohammad went on. He highlighted the need of a clear-cut vision for security, stability and prosperity based on mutual respect among the countries of the region, closer cultural and social relations and joint action to address the security, economic and political challenges. On Yemen, he said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia backed all efforts aiming to restore security and stability in the country and reach an intra-Yemeni political solution based on the three points of reference. The Kingdom continues effort to augment the current truce and offer humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people, he affirmed. Regarding Palestine, he said stability and prosperity in the Middle East require speeding up effort to reach a fair and comprehensive solution based on international legitimacy and the Arab initiative for peace. Crown Prince Mohammad hailed the recent improvement of the security situation in Iraq, saying this improvement will impact positively on Iraq's relations with its Arab neighbors. He lauded the agreements on power grid hookup between Saudi Arabia and Iraq and among the GCC countries, noting that similar agreements are in the offing between Saudi Arabia, on one hand, and Egypt and Jordan, on the other. Crown Prince Mohammad expressed hope that the current Summit will send an upbeat message of a bright future for the youth of the region, realize their aspirations and shed light on "our noble values."
